Jinchuuriki Alliances
by johsjack
Summary: On a training-trip with Jiraiya Naruto learns of the importance of family - and thus he sets out on a quest to unite all of his brothers under one banner.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: Naruto is the property of Masashi Kishimoto and the Shounen Jump.**

As a Ninja one of the first things you were taught at the ninja academy, was to never let your guard down - while sleeping being no exception. They all knew that letting your guard down at the wrong time could mean death either for one self or a team mate.

Even though he always thought about it while being on missions or in enemy territory, he had never thought about it while being at home sleeping in his own bed. That would explain why he didn't wake up until the window in his bedroom was shattered, making a violent noise.

He instinctly rolled down from his bed while grabbing a kunai from his nightstand. He landed on the ground and shifted into a defensive stance, while his sapphire blue eyes dashed around the room, in the search of enemies.

His senses finally woke up, and he heard the screaming and yelling coming from the streets. He quickly got up from his stance, ran to his now shattered window and looked down onto the streets. He just barely got a glimpse of a mob of about twenty people wielding everything from pitchforks to kitchen knives, before having to dodge a barrage of stones thrown at him.

Being aware of the situation and what he had to do he ran to his closet and pulled out only the most essential things – a sleeping bag, some kunai and shuriken, and a set of clothes. He stuffed it all into a bag and swung it over his shoulder, just in time, as the front door to the apartment block was kicked down. He could hear the footsteps of the large mob run up the stairs to his apartment.

He ran through his bedroom and into the back of his living room where he opened a window that led into the dark alley that was his 'neighbor'. He knew that this was the only way he could escape without having to confront the mob. He put his right foot on the frame of the window and calculate how far he had to jump to land in the pile of garbage two stories below. However, just as he was about to jump, he froze. He had forgotten something, and he knew exactly what it was. _Stupid idiot,_ he thought to himself. Just how could he have forgotten that?

Just as he came out of his bedroom, his front door was slammed down and the crazed mob stormed into his apartment, swinging their weapons over their heads and screaming curses at him, not haven forgotten his training he molded his chakra, focused it into his feet and set off with such incredible speed that people with no basic ninja training would have no chance of keeping up with him.

He ran through the mob, dodging a few sharp objects on the way, and leapt through the window with all the power he could muster. As he was in mid-air he turned his head to take one last look at the mob, but instead his eyes went wide when he saw a pointy knife headed in a straight-line for the middle of his back. As it closed in he could see that there would be no way he would be able to dodge it, and as it was thrown in spot where could reach with neither of his arm he tried to deflect it by throwing back his right shoulder and bringing up a kunai from the holster on his right leg. However, the knife closed in faster than he could reach down, get a grip on the kunai, pull it out of its holster and bring it up to defend himself.

He screamed in pain. He had landed on his right arm and he could feel the sharp knife which had impaled his triceps make contact with the cold and hard ground whilst getting pushed further into his arm, ripping apart his skin, tearing apart his muscles and breaking his bones. He let out another scream, this one sounding more than that of beast than that of a 13-year old, human boy. His left hand which was surrounded by a glowing cloak of dark, red chakra, shot up to where he had been hit and tore out the knife, damaging even more muscle and ripping apart even more skin tissue in the process. The pain was unbearable and he was on the verge of fainting.

From his apartment he could hear the cruel laughter and hurting insults being thrown at him by the angry mob. He felt his prisoner react to the taunting mob and the red chakra began flowing to the wound which was being healed at an inhumanly rapid pace. He felt the pain ease, and he opened his eyes, seeing nothing but a dark, blurry sky. He forced himself up off the ground with his left hand.

He walked down the alley with his bag hanging loose on his back and his right arm hanging down his side, bending in an unnatural way. Looking back he saw his apartment – or what _had _been his apartment – being destroyed by the villagers whose recognition he had once sought. So far it had proven futile, and the villagers' reaction to his recent battles had done nothing to help him.

Of course there were those who weren't blinded by the past and had begun recognizing him for who he was instead of what he contained - but those people were still few, and as far as he knew those people still wouldn't stand up for him in a fight, even though he'd saved them from destruction just a few months prior.

He kept up a slow pace all the way to the village gates, where he stopped. Standing on the border of the village he knew he had to make a choice. Either he could go to his Sensei's house and ask for shelter until he could find an affordable apartment, possibly on the outskirts of the village where he wouldn't be recognized. Or he could jump over the gate, out of the village, and be declared a traitor, a missing-nin, and an enemy to the village of Konoha and all of its inhabitants – which included his friends and teammates.

He looked up at the sky as a single tear travelled down his face, past the whisker-like scars on his cheeks and down to his chin where it let go and fell to the ground where it was soon joined by a mix of his salty tears and rain drops. ''Even the sky is crying'' he thought to himself, a sad smile crossing his whiskered face. He knew what he had to do.

He turned around to take one last look at the village that was lit up by the fire which illuminated his apartment. He clenched his left hand around the item which he had gone out of his way to save from the crazed mob and looked down at it. It was who he was. This item held within it his heart, his soul and his dreams. He kneeled and laid it down on the ground, carefully – he knew that his decision was final. He shut his eyes and took in a deep breath before turning to face the big green gates of Konoha and uttered his last words as a shinobi of the leaf village. ''So history does repeat itself, huh Sasuke?''. He focused chakra to his feet and he jumped over the wall and into the darkness of the night.

He just missed seeing a giant water dragon slam down on his house, dousing out the flames.

A man with long white hair and a headband with the kanji for 'oil', stood looking at the work of his jutsu, the water dragon being the only technique he knew would put out the fire for good. He felt no emotions but anger at the sight of the burnt down building, how could they have done this to his student? Jumping in a window he looked around the apartment - if you could call the burnt down apartment, with no roof, that – for any signs of the knuckleheaded blonde.

Not paying enough attention as to where he was stepping, the poor man tripped over a fragment of what used to be the roof, and fell head first down on the floor. Quickly jumping right back up, looking franticly around until he was assured no one had seen the embarrassing accident.

''_So much for always telling the brat to watch and be aware of his surroundings''_He thought as he dusted himself off ''_If he had seen that I would have to listen to his rants as to how I didn't even follow my own advice''. _Looking around the Sannins eyes fell on what appeared to be a damaged picture frame lying under one of the uprights that had once held up the roof of the apartment. He lifted the upright off the frame and threw it to the side. Picking up the frame he used his sleeve to sweep off the thick layer of dust and debris on the picture. As it was revealed he could see that the picture was in pretty bad shape, even though, he could still see what it was supposed to be and he was shocked to see that his student had left it behind. It was a picture of ''Team Seven''.

To the left, looking stoic as ever, stood Sasuke Uchiha, the last surviver of the Uchiha massacre and his students' closest friend. It was just two month ago that the Uchiha had decided to desert Konoha and his team, to go study under Orochimaru, his former teammate and friend. Orochimaru had just like Sasuke led quite a hard life before joining the shinobi ranks of Konoha and in his search for who he was had tortured and tested jutsus and chemicals on his subordinates and comrades.

In the middle of the picture, wearing a black facemask that covered the bottom half of his face and his headband strapped over his left eye stood the team's sensei Kakashi. Kakashi was a very gifted ninja and athlete and the fact that he had received the Sharingan in a gift from his late teammate made the jounin all the more frightening to face in battle. It was the Sharingan that had helped him obtain the nickname of ''The Copy-Ninja'' after, allegedly, having mastered over a thousand different jutsu. Team Seven was Kakashi's first genin team and, while having made a few minor and some greater mistakes every now and then, he had managed to bring all three of the young shinobi up to be respectable and fairly powerful for their age.

Also in the middle of the picture, standing to Sasuke's left and to his students' right was the pink-haired and ill-tempered Sakura Haruno, who was sporting a large smile and an equally large forehead. Sakura was much like Tsunade, his female teammate who also just happened to be the Hokage of Konoha, very intelligent with above average chakra control. However, unlike both of her male teammates, she hadn't made it to the finals of the chuunin exam and as a result her training had been somewhat neglected resulting in her falling behind both of her teammates by quite a large margin. His student had always had somewhat of a crush on the pink-haired kunoichi but she had always, which didn't surprise the sannin even slightest, had an eye on the Uchiha.

Lastly in the right side of the picture stood what he assumed to be his apprentice. Assumed was the right word, as the fire had damaged the picture in the spot where he was supposed to be standing. Not even his students' trademark of spiky, blonde hair and an awful looking, attention demanding, orange jumpsuit could be seen. In the small time he had known him the boy had sought to be the center of attention. He would always make less seem like more and he always sought the opportunity to rant about how he one day was going to become Hokage. His self-confident demeanor did rub off on some people, and he had already proved that he could back up all his big talk with his fighting which was impressive, to say the least, cause the kid really did talk highly of his himself and his future. A small smile crept up on the face of the sannin as he laughed inwardly at the kids antics. Stupid kid, he thought to himself.

Slowly looking up the white haired hermit once more took in the scene of destruction that was presented before him, mentally debating with himself whether or not to go through with his idea of taking the blonde on a training trip. The only one talking against it would be Tsunade. She couldn't argue that it wasn't safe to take him away from the village, even with Akatsukis interest in the boy. The blonde had just been attacked in his own apartment, in her village and right under her nose after all. Neither could she argue that the kid wasn't mature enough for a training trip this long. They both knew of the conditions he had lived under while growing up, and they had both heard of all the traumatizing events that had taken place in the kids' childhood. Questioning his maturity was out of the question.

He knew that taking the boy away from the village for a few years would be good for both the kid and the people of the village and there could be no way that she could argue against that.

It's settled then; he thought to himself and sat off to the Hokage tower. He knew that he was going to receive a beating for waking her up in the middle of the night, but considering that her favorite genin had just been attacked he was pretty sure that he should be able to survive without too many broken rips.

Sporting a big grin Jiraiya landed on the top of the Hokage building and jumped in through the window heading straight for the Hokages bedroom.


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: Naruto is the property of Masashi Kishimoto and the Shounen Jump.**

Lights were switched on in bedrooms all around the village as a high-pitched scream, coming from a tall and majestic tower which stood at the center of the village, ventured through the air.

The Hokage had been awoken.

Running through the hallways of the Hokage Tower with a frantic look on his face was Jiraiya the Toad-Sannin, and just behind him, with a dangerously big vein pulsing on her forehead, ran a busty, half-naked, blonde and furious woman. "Bloody pervert, I will have your head for this!" she yelled at the top of her lungs. He turned a corner and sprinted through the library just as she lunged for him. "Let me explain!" he yelled back at her, just before having to dodge a flying book.

She chased him through the library, past the Hokage's office, and into the assistant's quarters where she caught him with his back against the wall. "T-Tsunade, I know how it looks but how was I to know that you-" he was bluntly interrupted before he had the chance to explain himself to the furious woman. "You weren't supposed to be in my bedroom in the first place you pervert!" she yelled as she threw a chakra-enhanced punch at him, one he just barely managed to duck under. Jiraiya's eyes went wide and his face paled as the tower trembled under the raw power of the punch and a gaping hole was left in the wall behind him.

"Tsunade-sama!" a scream came from behind the Hokage as a slender woman with dark hair burst into the room. She stopped dead in her tracks with a puzzled look on her face at the scene before her. "Tsunade-sama what is-" Shizune stopped her sentence halfway and leapt forward, as Tsunade pulled her arm back for another punch.

The Toad Sannin turned away and squealed as the hand came at him, but to his relief it never connected. Shizune was all over Tsunade, wrestling with her and trying to calm her down.

As Jiraiya turned around a perverted smile developed on his face as he mentally took notes of the scene before him. The two women were wearing nothing but their nighties and panties as they scraped at each other and wrestled for dominance._ "Tsunade will kill me if I put this scene in the next volume of Icha Icha"_ he laughed inwardly. _"Even though Shizune doesn't stand an honest chance against Tsunade, she should be able to buy me enough time to calm her down."_

As he had predicted Shizune fell to her knees while panting for air. The victorious Tsunade let out a grunt – not acknowledging her assistant's performance - and turned back to where the toad-sannin had been sitting just moments ago. To her surprise, and Jiraiya's delight, she found herself incapable of moving.

"I'm sorry Tsunade but I didn't know any other way to calm you down without harming you." he said with a big grin plastered on his face as he walked up to her and looked her right in the eyes. "And though I do enjoy the occasional cat-fight," even Shizune directed an angry look at him at this remark ''that is not the reason I came to see you.''. Tsunade shot him a dubious look and was just about to make an angry retort, but she was disrupted by Jiraiya. "No, really, Tsunade – in all seriousness I do have some very pressing affairs which I need your opinion on." He put a hand on her neck and released some chakra to cancel the paralysis.

"Could we continue the conversation in your office?" He asked as he walked over to Shizune and helped her up off the floor.

Tsunade let out a grunt as answer to his question.

"Alright, I will meet you there in a few minutes.'' He said with a smug look.

Tsunade looked at him with a questioning gaze.

"Oh, I thought you might just want to put on some less revealing clothes but if not I am certainly not going to complain" he said with a wide-grin on his face before swiftly ducking out the door and making for her office.

* * *

"They did what?!" Tsunade screamed at the top of her lungs as she slammed a hand down on her desk so hard you could hear the wood crack. She was furious.

"I have yet to search for him but I believe that he is no longer to be found in the village." Jiraiya said as he had his black eyes locked in his female teammate's hazel ones. She was visibly shaking with anger. "Because of the recent events I would like your permission to take him with me on a training trip for about two and a half years." Tsunade's fists were clenched tightly and blood could be seen dripping from them. She had feared that it would come to this.

She had met up with Jiraiya in her office right after putting on her Kage outfit. The second she stepped into her office she could tell that Jiraiya meant business. He had a stern look on his face, one that did not fit his usually boisterous and immature demeanor, and in his hand he had a bottle of sake which he restlessly put to his mouth and took large gulps from. She had longed for a taste of the alcoholic beverage the moment she had laid eyes on the bottle, but she knew that if she was to retain her sense of judgment she would have to stay sober.

And she had been right. It took all of her better sense of judgment not to order for the banishment of each and every person, shinobi and civilian alike, who had taken part in the raid on Naruto's apartment.

It wasn't the first time Jiraiya asked for her permission to take Naruto on a training-trip. On previous attempts he had argued that Naruto would be nothing but a sitting duck if he was to stay in the village where the Akatsuki could easily keep tabs on him and abduct him whenever they found it convenient, but Tsunade had turned him down and argued back that Naruto's life would be in even greater jeopardy if he was to travel around the world with just one person to protect him, even if that person was the legendary toad-sannin.

She had been certain that he would be much safer in the village than any other place in the world and she truthfully believed that she had made the right decision by turning Jiraiya down. But now Naruto had been attacked by the very villagers who she had vouched for and she was disappointed and furious with both them and herself. Her poor decision making had let to the boy being nothing but hurt, and the villagers had greatly diminished her trust in them.

But even though Naruto had been severely hurt by the villagers, she couldn't get rid of the voice in her head that kept nagging her with the possible consequences of sending Naruto on a poorly planned training trip with a man who wasn't best known for keeping a low profile.

She also knew that the village council wouldn't approve of such an outrageous idea. If Naruto was to be successfully captured by the Akatsuki, the village would lose one of its most valuable weapons and assets, not to mention that Konoha would be the only major village without a Jinchuuriki in their possession and with Konoha already weakened from the attack of the Sand and Sound villages, there would be a big chance that the loss of Naruto would tempt other nations to try their luck and invade Konoha.

Tsunade looked back to Jiraiya who was staring at her intensively. He had a determined look on his face and she knew he wasn't going to accept any of those theories as reason enough to confine Naruto within the village. She sighed despairingly.

"You really think that a lengthy training trip away from his home and friends is what he needs right now?" She asked.

"I believe that is just what he needs right now." he said with confidence in his voice and a sad smile formed on his features. "Knowing the gaki he probably still wants to stay in the village and win the acknowledgement of each and every villager, but fact of the matter is that some time away from all the glares and all the bad memories could do him good."

Tsunade put on a sad smile of her own. She knew that her teammate was right in that regard. The boy had been on the receiving end of so many evil glares and hateful curses through his short life that it would be understandable if he wanted nothing to do with the villagers. But that wasn't the path that Naruto had chosen. Unlike the jinchuuriki of the Shikaku who had chosen to hate and curse all of the world and its inhabitants, Naruto had chosen the path of love.

"They really have no idea how much of a gift Naruto is, huh?" She murmured in a soft voice.

"No. Sadly, they don't" Jiraiya started in an equally soft voice while studying Tsunade intently. "That boy deserves much better than what he has gotten in this village, but still he insists on calling this place his home." his voice got firmer and his resolve strengthened. "That is why I need to take him away. I want to help him gain the power to change the villager's perception of him, but that is not something I can do within the confinement of Konoha's walls."

Tsunade was overwhelmed by her former teammate's resolute voice and hardened glare. This was the demeanor that he only wore when speaking about his former teammate and best friend, Orochimaru, or his late student, the Yondaime Hokage, Minato Namikaze.

"So what will your answer be Tsunade?"

As Tsunade opened her mouth to answer, a character clad in a black, hooded cloak and a white ceramic mask which covered his face, appeared on one knee next to Tsunade.

If any of the Sannin were startled by the sudden turn up of an unrecognizable figure, it didn't show, and Tsunade immediately turned to and addressed the black ops shinobi.

"You have come at a very inconvenient time, so state your business and be gone" She said in a very formal voice.

"My apologies Lady Hokage, I came to inform you of a defection in the Shinobi ranks of Konohagakure." The Anbu pulled forth and presented a headband with the signature of the Leaf Village engraved in the dull metal frame.

Tsunade took the headband from the Anbu's hands and studied it thoroughly.

"Shall we proceed to hunt down and sedate the deserter?" The clad in black shinobi asked in a monotone voice.

"No, leave this to me." Tsunade said firmly. "You are not to talk of this to anyone outside of this room. Dismissed."

Tsunade turned her attention back to Jiraiya who stood with a questioning look on his face.

"Why?" He asked.

She could understand his confusion; she had after all just let a deserter go without punishment.

"This is Naruto's headband".

* * *

Tiny rays of red light shot across the landscape as a giant orange orb rose from the horizon to the far east. Rabbit's came out of hiding, Anemone's rose their colored heads and ducks quacked to welcome back the warmth emitted from their long lost friend. The bright beams travelled across the continent and brought life to the animals, the ocean, the lakes and the rivers. Everywhere, the habitants of the wild awoke to a bright new day and got about their daily business of acquiring nourishment for the coming winter.

Everywhere, but in the darkest corners of the deep forest that surrounded Konohagakure. The forest was home to countless common species. Among those were the deer, the squirrel, the owl and the brown kiwi. It was also home to other less frequent and far less gregarious species such as the fox, the wolf, the viper and even the occasional Asian black bear. But on this day the forest was home to an even rarer sight, as a male, human teenager fought his way through the forest growth with wobbly knees and weak strides. His usually wild and spiky hair was greasy and hung down in bangs in front of his eyes. His face was covered in dirt, sweat and blood and all over his body deep cuts and gashes could be seen. His black and orange garments were torn to shreds and his right arm hung limply at his side in a sling made of his ripped jacket.

The in affectivity of his arm was visibly troubling him as he swung his healthy arm around to clear his way through yet another thorn bush and he emitted a deep animalistic growl as yet more thorns ripped his flesh open. For little more than a second his eyes turned from bright blue to deep crimson red and his features turned more animalistic. It happened so fast that anyone who'd seen it would believe that it was just a trick of the light what it meant.

But he felt it, and he knew exactly what it meant.

_My chakra reserves are nearing empty, damn it! _He thought as he forced his way out the thorn bush and into a large, clearing. He stopped quickly at the scene in front of him and his eyes widened in awe. It was a sight to behold. The clearing was formed like a sphere and the dense forest growth that surrounded it, gave it an almost protective and divine aura. A few rays of sunlight shone down on the otherwise dark ground and revealed green, lush grass which was covered in morning dew. Such a beautiful and untainted scene was rare in this part of the forest.

As he took in his surroundings his head started throbbing in pain, and he put a hand to his head, grit his teeth and squinted his eyes. He had been too busy with putting ground between him and Konoha to notice in just how bad of a shape he was and realize just what he was doing. But now that he stood in front of this tranquil sight, he suddenly felt as if his head was being continuously smashed against a wall and his emotional walls broke down as he understood the gravity of just what he doing. He was a missing-nin, running away from the village where all of his friends and loved ones were living. He hadn't said goodbye to any of them, not a single one, and there was no way he would ever be able to talk to them again, at least not as allies or friends.

He now felt just how exhausted, both mentally, physically and emotionally he was and for a few seconds the clearing in front of him appeared so inviting and comforting that he wanted nothing more than to lie down and let sleep claim him. But being a ninja in unfamiliar surroundings he knew that he could not afford such luxury. His broken arm and nearly depleted chakra reserves made him vulnerable already, but if he was to sleep in a clearing that offered no protection he would be no harder to kill than an unaware, lonely and sick lamb.

What gave him the strength to push forward through the throbbing pain in both his arm and head now, were the small streaks of light that were visible in the clearing. He knew that if the light could reach him through the forest growth he could not be long from edge of the forest.

And so he walked farther away from the place he less than 12 hours ago called home and the people that he had called his precious ones. He fought his way forward yet again for hours on end, only stopping to wipe the sweat off his brow or place his damaged arm in a more comfortable position.

Never once did he let the warm smiles that he received from Iruka whenever he slurped down a whole bowl of ramen in record time at Ichiraku's Ramen, or the knock over the head that he would receive from Tsunade whenever he came up with a witty remark, or the offended huffs Jiraiya would emit whenever he called him by his unwanted, and according to him, unfitting, call name, or the bored look on Kakashi's face whenever he would go on a rant about the rank of their missions, or the accepting smiles and gestures that he was finally getting from the Konoha 11 lead him off course.

Instead he remembered the hateful glares and curses that were thrown at him at a daily basis. He remembered the attack in his apartment and the killer intent which the angry horde of civilians had emitted, towards him.

His vision turned blurry as drops of salty water forced their way through his tear ducts and out into the corner of his eyes. One by one, they cascaded down his cheeks and mixed with the filthy soil that covered his face. One by one, they extended down to his chin where they lingered for a second before one by one falling to the ground.

His body began shaking lightly and he let out a few sobs as he slowly picked up his pace until he was running as fast as his body would let him, and his body was shaking uncontrollably. He felt as if every muscle fiber, every tendon and every joint in his body was on fire, but he grit his teeth and kept moving forward. With every stride he took, the light in front of him became more visible and with every leap he made, the growth around him thinned out, and as he advanced forward a hole in the tree line appeared. He sped up.

He felt muscles in his legs tear apart and he felt his prisoners' chakra rush to the damaged fibers and start healing them right away. He was pushing his body beyond its limits, he knew that, but he couldn't stop, he wouldn't stop. Just a few hundred meters and he would be out of the forest and far away from Konoha where no Leaf-Shinobi would come looking for him. Not even his friends.

A last tear fell to the ground as he focused every last bit of chakra he had in his body into his feet and pushed himself out the forest with an explosive and uncontrollable jump. But it got him out, and as he hovered in the air he saw the rise and crop fields become visible, he saw cattle in paddocks and sheep behind fences and he heard chickens cluck and dogs bark in the distance.

But all this paled when he was hit, head on, by the suns full force. He had to close his eyes as its energy hit him square in the face and he felt the warmth and life that it gave to everything it touched. Suddenly he felt safe, the opposite of what he had the last few hours, and while in midair, falling towards the ground with a smile on his lips, he fell unconscious.

Had he been able to stay awake for just one more second, he would have felt a pair of strong arms wrap around him and carefully lay him on the ground.

"My god Naruto, what have they done to you?"

And had he been able to stay awake for just ten more seconds, he would have felt drops of liquid fall softly on his face.

* * *

She sat alone in her office once again. Jiraiya had long since left her and now Tsunade, the 5th Hokage, was rereading the official papers to approve of her former teammate, request to take the Jinchuuriki of the village, Naruto Uzumaki on a multi-year trip away from the village. She knew that what she was doing, letting two of the village's strongest weapons leave the village without supervision, would not sit well with the elders, especially not Danzo Shimura.

She grunted at the headache which was forming just from the thought of the long arguments and shouting matches she no doubt would have to have with the council in the wake of her decision. But she was convinced she was doing the right thing. She had known so since watching the emotional response Jiraiya gave to the discovery of Naruto's abandoned headband.

He had snatched it out of her hand and with a look of desperation searched for signs that this was indeed his apprentices' headband. It had been difficult for her to keep the tears inboard as she watched him flip the headband and look at the reverse side of where the leaf insignia was and watch his eyes grow wide as they read over the inscription which she knew was there.

She had watched him stand there, frozen, not moving an inch and not changing his facial expression from one of pure anguish for two full minutes before deciding to shake him out of his trance.

She hadn't been prepared for his response and yelped in surprise as he had grabbed her, hard, by the shoulders and focused his gaze intently into hers. She was shocked at the single tear which was travelling down his left cheek and the frantic and sad look he had in his eyes. "Sign the papers Tsunade. Just do it." He had said to her with an emotional yet stern voice before letting go of her and sprinting out the room.

She had only ever seen her teammate so emotionally disturbed once, and that had been when the news of the death of his former blonde apprentice had reached him.

She dipped the stamp in the ink pad next to her before pressing it down onto the bottom of the last page, leaving the official mark of the Hokage of Konohagakure just next to her signature.

She sighed heavily and grabbed the bottle of sake which Jiraiya had left behind on her desk. She put it to her mouth and turned the container upside down, letting the chilled beverage stream onto her taste buds before gulping it down. With a swift motion she moved the bottle away from her face and spluttered the beverage over her desk.

"Eww, what the!" she yelled with a disgusted look on her face.

She turned the bottle and studied the label for any explanation for the awful taste of her normally favorite drink. Finding nothing out of the ordinary in the description of the product and seeing that it hadn't surpassed its expiration date, she turned the bottle to look at who might be the producer of such sour sake. She wasn't surprised as the label read what it did on all of bottles of sake that she had previously owned: _Produced in Konoha, by the people of Konoha_.

"Shizune!"

Her apprentice immediately entered the room.

"Yes, Tsunade-Sama?" She said as approached her master.

Tsunade handed her apprentice the bottle and in response to her dark-haired apprentices questioning look grunted, and in a monotone voice and with a bad taste in her mouth from the sake, said:

"Get this out of my sight."


End file.
